Oh, bless her heart.
There’s yet
another article profiling an earnest do-gooder in our local
paper. This dear woman drives all over her city and picks
fresh produce from willing property owners, while her two
year-old naps in the SUV. Her efforts go to local food
banks. She’s been working at this tirelessly for five
months.
So who would
be so jaded and mean-spirited to criticize such devotion to
the poor and needy?
Well, um, me.
Don’t get me
wrong! I appreciate her good intentions, and her
self-sacrifice! I agree that we should be doing more as
individuals to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
But here’s the
thing: A meal lasts about five hours. And then hunger
returns.
In the
meantime, the two year-old is growing. Pretty soon, she
won’t nap anymore. Then she might take ballet, or get a
baby sibling or two, or life will otherwise intervene, and
the food will stop coming.
And then what?
Have the poor gained any skills or work ethic to pull
themselves out of poverty? Or did all those free handouts
just make it much easier to do nothing about their
circumstances?
I think a lot
about poverty. For one thing, I used to be poor. For
another, our economy is going to make more poor. And the
money and effort extended to the poor will either help ...
or subsidize helplessness.
So, how could
this gleaning project be more sustainable? Simple. Have the
poor do the work. So long as they enjoy eating, the program
will continue. Here are some jobs they could and should
take on to help
themselves:
- Do the picking.
- Glean overripe produce and harvest seeds from them to use for growing gardens next year.
- Collect donations of used garden tools, or sell excess produce to purchase some.
- Maintain compost.
- Grow food.
- Raise chickens for eggs or meat, and use the manure for fertilizer.
- Train others in gardening know-how.
Critics of my opinion may insist that the poor don’t have time. Well, plenty of people with full-time jobs, children and volunteer hours can still make the time. Critics might suggest that gardening is too expensive, but $100 in tools and seeds yield a multiple of that in food in just the first year. No space? Community gardens abound. The biggest challenge for the poor in America is obesity. Fresh produce would help change that statistic.
I make exceptions, of course, for the truly needy who are frail elderly or otherwise incapacitated. But just about anyone with the stamina to stand in a bread line can pitch in for their own benefit. They aren’t doing this because they don’t have to.
One bright spot in the story: This same woman donates seedlings from her own garden to the local schools so kids can watch food grow before their eyes. Let’s hope we can inspire the next generation to grow more of their own food.
